The invention relates to a vacuum tight reaction vessel for steel processing, comprising a vessel bottom and a cover that can be placed thereon in a vacuum tight manner. The cover comprises a vacuum tight passage, that is embodied in the manner of a packing gland with a packing gland housing fixedly connected to the cover, a packing gland seal, and a packing gland passage, for guiding a blast pipe that is vertically movable relative to the cover.
Reaction vessels having the aforementioned features are known in practice for steel processing. For moving the blast pipe, guided through the packing gland into the interior of the vessel, a support with a carriage displaceably arranged thereat and a coordinated drive unit is, in general, provided at the cover of the vessel whereby the blast pipe is supported. A coordinated drive unit is provided This arrangement has the disadvantage, respectively, results in the problem that due to imprecise manufacturing dimensions as well as due to thermal loading of the components during operation, tolerances result which impede a straight and thus friction-reduced and easy movement of the blast pipe through the packing gland. The result is that, due to the high movement resistance, the blast pipe upon passage through the packing gland, when the driving power of the carriage is too high, is bent or that the carriage drive cannot provide sufficient power to overcome the moving resistance.
It is therefore an object of the invention to improve a vacuum tight reaction vessel with the aforementioned features such that in all operation positions a secure and easy movement of the blast pipe through the packing gland is achieved.